Author: Rippon Events

Author: Rippon Events

The Biodynamic Association of NZ’s conference is taking place in Central Otago this month with three days of workshops, discussions and even, weather permitting, a spot of star gazing and the Rippon Hall is proud to be hosting for the later part of the conference on the 23rd – 24th June.

While this may be wine country, there will be plenty to interest all biodynamic practitioners in the workshops and talks being held during the weekend. Even if you don’t regard yourself as a biodynamic practitioner yet, come along and learn how this exciting way of growing can be integrated into your own farms and gardens.

The conference is sponsored by Ceres Organics and the programme includes talks by leading biodynamic experts including a keynote presentation by Thea Maria Carlson from the United States and Ian Trousdell joining us by video conference from China.

The Rippon family has an enduring connection with New Zealand art, and is delighted to provide a contemporary art space for the local community. Curator Robyn Bardas MFA brings a fresh eye and contemporary edge to this exhibition.

From 1st June until 28th July, The Rippon Hall is excited to bring you ‘Dealing With It,’ a debut exhibition from Ruby Urquhart which paradoxically explores the absence of creativity.

Ruby Urquhart grew up in Wanaka and is now a Wellington-based artist. While studying at the Learning Connexion in 2012 and 2013, she established herself as a portraitist and has since branched out into sculpture, particularly in the movie industry. In her future work, she hopes to focus on painting as a way of exploring drag identifies and gender concepts.

Like many artists before her, Ruby’s creative work has suffered as a result of her mental health. Less of an artistic style and more of a coping mechanism, these works are a defense against the idea that if you don’t do something, you’ll lose yourself.

Rather than avoiding the world and spending hours questioning her self-worth, the works were a way of avoiding the world that is constructive instead of damaging. A record of a slow and methodical healing process. Through both the process of their creation and the context in which they were created, these meditative and repetitive drawings are tangible representations of the experience of time spent dealing with it.

Although the works are born out of challenging periods, as part of her healing process rather than a typical artistic practice, they have grown into something that gives an architectural impression of structure and stability.

Don’t miss this fascinating exhibition running 1st June – 28th July; 11 am – 5 pm daily at The Rippon Hall and be sure to join us for Ruby’s opening night at 5pm on the 1st June.

Come shake off those Winter blues with Rippon yoga this June with Kate Blyth. Kate is a local Wanaka Yoga teacher. Her classes are an integrative style of hatha/vinyasa flow classes, with a focus on breath and alignment.

We are thrilled to welcome much loved kiwi troubadour Monty Bevins as he hits the road this May and June to celebrate the release of his new single Lovers Again. He’ll be playing The Rippon Hall on Tuesday, 29th May joined by Eccentric-folk musician Fraser Ross.

Known as a touching, spirited performer, whose soul-folk songs ask the big questions while telling the small stories, Bevins has built a loyal following throughout his homeland. With a warm rich voice and articulate guitar grooves, he digs out and distills themes of tenderness, personal revolution and adventure.

Join us Tuesday, 3rd April from 5-7 pm at the Rippon Hall for an exhibition (with wine of course) featuring artist Robin Brisker.

Brisker was born in Chicago, attended 12 schools in 12 years, and has spent the last 18 years in New Zealand. His painting style spans from a strong Braque/ Picasso cubist influence to a whimsical feel of Calder and Klee. Kurt Schwitters was his collage inspiration.

His work has been collected by Miles Davis, Madonna, Jamie Wyeth, Amy Irving, and artist’s Dan Rizzie and Tony Fitzpatrick. Maybe you’ll be next? We’d love to see you out Tuesday to support this local talent as well as wish him a very happy birthday!

The Rippon Hall is thrilled to be one of the stops along this New Zealand tour featuring the creativity of pianist and composer Jonathan Crayford at the keys of an historic Steinway D Grand Piano. A musical experience normally reserved for audiences in large international cities.

Jonathan Crayford is an award-winning pianist, multi-instrumentalist and critically-acclaimed composer from New Zealand who began playing music at the age of 3. His work encompasses a wide variety of musical genres. As a musician in New York he has worked with Kurt Rosenwinkel, David Binney, Mambo Macoco, Groove Collective and in Europe with David Murray, Tony Allen, Questlove, Macy Gray, Bobby Carcasses (Cuba) and many others internationally. As a film composer he has scored numerous feature films, winning industry awards. His latest trio of albums gained critical acclaim with East West Moon receiving the 2017 Tui Award for Best Jazz album and its predecessor Dark Light called ‘a masterpiece’ by Radio NZ’s Simon Sweetman.

Known as a prolific and highly original compositional talent, Jonathan is responsible for many film soundtracks, albums, and bands. His work today spans many different genres and disciplines, in many different parts of the world, including Australasia, Europe, Brazil, Spain, America (particularly New York) and Cuba. Most recently he has been living in Paris and Spain, writing a film/opera and recording two albums of solo piano music in Spain and a trio album in New York. Now he has a new project – to tour New Zealand with a Steinway D Concert Grand Piano.

“There is a huge difference between a full-sized, concert grand in good condition and every other piano,” he explains. “The big ones make a huge sound and the balance of low frequency to high frequency is glorious, the tone, divine. When a pianist performs on an instrument that can deliver such a sound – the instrument inspires greatness, and in turn, the audience feel it.”

The piano is a 1955 full sized Steinway concert grand, signed by several concert pianists throughout its lifetime, including Lily Kraus, “a Hungarian specialist in Beethoven and Mozart who had endured a concentration camp and became a refugee before touring the world in the ‘30s and ‘40s. I believe she was quite a presence in NZ then, a lot of people remember her.”

“It will be a great pleasure for me to be able to perform on such a brilliant instrument to people all over New Zealand,” agrees Crayford. “We also have a wide range of venue type: A cement silo, a wine cave, a concert hall and various other types of spaces.”

“I’m going to play everything that’s been in my mind for the last 2 years since I came back to New Zealand to live close to my daughter and grand-daughter. I’ve studied a lot of music in this time and absorbed the sounds from trips to far-away places. When I sit down to play it will be to journey through all that I have seen and heard. In real terms – for the listener, apart from the emotional and spiritual content which can only reveal itself at the time, this means some Ravel, Bach, Ligeti, Monk, Ellington, Mingus, Mompou, Mario Bauza, Claire Fischer, Peter Gabriel, Lorca, and particularly anything that might come to mind at the time.”

In the lead up to the transformation to the TUKI Festival, our friends at Lake Wanaka SouNZ have kindly loaned us our current exhibition, which looks back on ten Rippon Music Festivals held between 1998 & 2014.

The Rippon family has an enduring connection with New Zealand art, and is delighted to provide a contemporary art space for the local community. Curator Robyn Bardas MFA brings a fresh eye and contemporary edge to this exhibition.

From 16th February through to 16th March, The Rippon Hall is excited to bring you ‘Pages,’ new work from Fashion and textile artist Rowan Holt. Holt has been involved with textiles and architecture her whole life, having been immersed in these skills since a baby learning from her parents and grandparents. Holt’s textile pieces range across a wide variety of scale, materials and processes from fine needlepoint, weaving to architectural size works.

Holt holds a Master of Fine Art with Merit endorsement from the Otago Polytechnic, as well as numerous other qualifications including studies in jewellery, sculpture, photography and is a registered secondary school art teacher.

She has appeared in many exhibitions throughout New Zealand and has also recently exhibited in Italy and China.
Her new work Pages reflects on the landscape and botanicals in Central Otago and researches historical links through the gold rush when many of the local towns were settled. She has made the canvas from scratch by weaving, and then layering in ceramic to create a surface to sketch her observations in drawing.

The Baroque Music Community and Educational Trust of New Zealand is excited to announce its forthcoming South Island Concert Tour and The Rippon Hall is thrilled to be one of the stops along the way on Monday, 12th February, 2018.

Baroque Community and Educational Trust of New Zealand presents an enchanting concert with music by Vivaldi, Corelli and Telemann featuring Baroque period dance specialist, Mareike Greb from Germany, in full period costume.

Music will be performed by Baroque specialists from both New Zealand and Europe on period instruments.

The music ensemble will be led by Szabolcs Illes from Hungary.

Doors open from 6:30 pm; music starts at 7:30 pm. Come early to enjoy a wine, some nibbles and great company. Following the concert there will be a rare opportunity to meet the artists over a glass of wine.

Tickets also available at the door – cash only. Children under 14 free, max one child per paying adult.